Edward Marston - The Owls of Gloucester

‘Only too well!’

‘Can we change this topic now?’ pleaded Aelgar.

‘But I find it interesting.’

‘We do not,’ said Golde.

‘Stop it before you start to get angry,’ said Aelgar.

‘I’m not at all angry.’

‘Forne!’

‘Talk to your sister while we have our discussion.’

‘No!’

‘Aelgar will do nothing of the kind,’ said Golde, smarting at his dismissive tone. ‘Ralph and I came to visit both of you so that all four of us could get to know each other better. Aelgar and I will not be swept aside like a couple of children being sent out to play.’

Ralph grinned. ‘I’d like to meet the man who can sweep you aside, my love. But you are quite right. This is not a fit subject.’

‘We must return to it another time, my lord,’ said Forne with tenacity. ‘Then I can put my side of the argument.’

‘It has already been put at the Battle of Hastings.’

‘Ralph!’ snapped his wife.

‘That was an unworthy comment,’ he conceded. ‘I take it back.

And I would like to thank Forne for his comments on Querengar.

They were very useful. So tell me, Aelgar,’ he said, trying to introduce a more jocular note. ‘Where will this amorous young man take you off to when he marries you and throws you over his shoulder?’

‘We will live in Archenfield.’

‘Does that idea appeal to you?’

‘Very much.’

‘I know the area well. It holds pleasant memories for me.’ He winked at Golde. ‘It’s where your sister and I first got to know each other properly. If it were not so close to Wales, I could find Archenfield rather appealing myself.’

‘I hope you will visit us there,’ said Aelgar.

‘Gladly,’ replied Golde. ‘When time serves.’

‘And when the King sees fit to release me from these onerous duties,’ said Ralph with a sigh. ‘I long for the day when I can actually start to enjoy my own estates again. If it ever comes, both of you will be invited to visit us in Hampshire.’

Aelgar was touched. ‘That would be wonderful! Forne?’

‘Yes,’ he said without relish.

‘We would love to see you there,’ said Golde.

‘Almost as much as we’d love to see ourselves there,’ added Ralph.

Talk turned to the preparations for the wedding and a contentment settled on the room. Forne was disappointed that he was unable to argue at will with Ralph, but he made himself amenable and his devotion to Aelgar once again shone through.

The two sisters were in their element, each feeling more complete now that they were sharing their lives with a man they loved. It was a far cry from the days when they both worked in the brewhouse in Hereford. Ralph looked on with interest but took progressively less part in the conversation. He was back in Golde’s world now and still a relative stranger. He liked Aelgar, not only on her own account but because she mirrored so many of Golde’s qualities. About Forne he was undecided. Beneath the obliging manner was a resentment and pugnacity which he found irritating.

At the end of the evening, he and Golde took their leave and mounted their horses. It was not far to the castle but a walk through dark and dirty streets was not advisable. With Golde to protect, Ralph had taken the additional precaution of wearing his sword. The horses walked slowly along the lane, their hoofbeats amplified in the hollow night.

‘What did you think of Forne?’ asked Golde.

‘It is as you said, my love. He and your sister are well matched.’

‘Did you like him?’

‘When he made himself likeable.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I could have done with more respect from him,’ said Ralph.

‘He never quite recovered from the fact that I arrived with a sword.

It upset him. I could see that.’

‘You shouldn’t have goaded him, Ralph.’

‘I did nothing of the kind.’

‘Yes, you did.’

‘He needed no goading, my love. Forne was well and truly goaded before we even got there. My very existence goads him.’

‘You could have been more tactful.’

‘I’ll not let anyone shout me down, Golde.’

‘There was provocation, I know,’ she accepted. ‘All in all, it passed off well and I’m so grateful that you agreed to come with me.’

‘Did I have any choice?’

She laughed.

‘I have some sympathy with the fellow,’ he said. ‘Seen through his eyes, I must appear like something of an ogre. Is that how I appear to you?’

‘Now and then.’

It was his turn to laugh. Their horses swung into a narrow street and ambled slowly on. Ralph and Golde rode in silence and savoured the night air. It was the first time since they had been in Gloucester that they felt truly alone. The sensation was liberating.

‘Let’s escape,’ said Ralph on impulse.

‘From what?’

‘This city. Let’s ride off now, Golde.’

‘Where would we go?’

‘Anywhere to get away from it. I’m fed up with the endless round of responsibilities. I just want to be with you. Let’s go!’

‘Are you serious?’

‘Never more so, my love.’

‘But you turn your back on everything,’ she said reasonably.

‘It’s unthinkable. What about Gervase? Would you really desert him?’

‘I was forgetting Gervase.’

‘There’s Canon Hubert and Brother Simon as well.’

‘They don’t matter quite so much.’

‘Your duties matter, Ralph. That’s why you always discharge them so zealously. People depend on you and you never let them down. I know you too well. You’d never run away from anything.

Ralph Delchard is the sort of man who will stand and fight.’

‘Unfortunately,’ he sighed, giving up. ‘Ah well, it was a nice idea while it lasted. To start anew. To ride off in the moonlight with the woman of my dreams.’

‘The woman of your dreams is too tired. She needs her sleep.’

‘Don’t be so unromantic!’

‘Then choose a better time.’

Before he could answer, a drumming sound was heard in the middle distance. Many hooves were dancing their way into Gloucester. They nudged their own horses into a trot until the castle loomed up ahead of them. The noise grew louder, then the cavalcade appeared. Twenty or more riders surged across the Bearland, the open space in front of the castle where troops could be mustered or where the defending garrison could have clear sight of any besieging army. In the gloom, Ralph and Golde had no clear sight of the visitors but Ralph identified them at once. As they slowed down to clatter across the drawbridge, he turned to his wife.

‘King William!’

‘He has come late.’

‘By design.’

‘And with a sizeable entourage.’

‘I’ll be interested to see who rides with him.’

‘And will you tell me when you find out?’ she teased.

‘Immediately.’

Ralph’s smile congealed as soon as it was formed. Something had aroused his suspicion. When the last of the horsemen had ridden through the castle gate, a tall figure emerged from the shadows and strode swiftly across the Bearland. The man had been watching the arrival of the royal party. Ralph only saw the man in silhouette but his gait and bearing were distinctive. He had witnessed both at the shire hall.

Golde noticed that he now sat bolt upright in the saddle.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

‘I’m not sure.’

‘You’ve gone tense, Ralph.’

‘It was that man who walked in front of the castle.’

‘Do you know him?’

‘I think so.’

‘Who is he?’

‘Abraham the Priest.’

The long tables were bedecked with dishes of all kinds and wine flowed freely in the light of a hundred candles. A magnificent repast awaited the visitors. Though he had complained about the royal visit, Durand the Sheriff was also pleased by it because it was an indication of his own status in the King’s counsels. Sitting with his guests, the sheriff was at his most affable and his wife at her most charming. The long wait had left the hosts themselves feeling the pangs of hunger and they could now allay them in the best possible way. Yet there was no air of celebration in the hall. The delicious fare was consumed with thanks rather than with any jollity. The King was there on serious business. It showed.